Fashion and Youth

Fashion and Youth

In factor culture is dying. Indian youth is blindly aping the West. Ananda Koomaraswamy had once observed, "It is hard to realize how completely the continuity of Indian life has been severed. The beauty and logic of Indian life belongs to a dying past. The 19th century has degraded much and created nothing. It is true of today also. Unfortunately the Indian youth has been carried away by western way of life. Search for material comforts and thrill of success has declined his ability to think in terms of spirit.
Fashion is the talk of modern young men and women. Youth is for a mod style of life. In fact youth and fashion symbolize a life without durable values that sustain life. No doubt our fashionable attitudes and values reflect our overall attitude to life. The young men have wrong concept of modernization. They think that modernization lies in westernization of social life. They are not wise enough to discriminate between what is modernization and the dying values of our culture. For example in modern days thoughts of Rajneesh have prospered only because they cater to the baser instincts of the youth. In the name of culture I we have adopted sophistication as a means of renovating our outward lives.
As a matter of fact culture can neither be purchased nor replaced by love for money and fashionable mode of living. Modern youth are blind to the fact that culture lies in appreciation of art and literature and intellectual development. In the name of fashion designing and other activities relating to the art of dress making, the youth of our country are addicted to bawdy and gaudy dresses. Semiclad young women are a common sight on the street. Dress styles designed to attract attention. Costly dresses and casual wears are also taken up to show off the status of young men and women.

The most important thing to remember is that the dress reflects our attitudes to the ideal values of life. It is advisable that young men and women should realise that fashion can be adopted in life by following sober art of wearing. It can not be denied that today Indian youth is a frustrated lot. The causes of frustrations can not be easily over looked. All around them they find no ideal personality to emulate. Their careers are at stake. They witness how the leaders of the nation are looting the nation & feathering their own nests. There is unemployment on a tremendous scale & their future is not bright. All these factors have resulted in the disillusionment of the youth. The sordid scenario makes them escape from the realities of life. In the name of fashion they have taken to drug addiction and drinking. If stated properly youth is the blissful period of life but Indian youth has drifted away from right path of life. They are directionless. The youth of today feel angry & frustrated. All the evil habits have been picked up by the younger generation in the name & style of fashion. The net result is that fashion syndrome has pernicious effects on the mind of the youth.
Modern Indian youth is attracted to fashionable life propagated by print and electronic media. The role of the media is all pervasive. They are more interested in material gains and comforts at every cost. They look down upon the past and what the past stood for. They fall head long for the artificial values of fashionable life. Therefore, fashion seems to have become a pernicious way of life leading to snobbery, artificiality and consumer culture.